1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-66030 discloses a connector with a housing that is connectable with a mating housing. A lock arm stands up from the upper surface of the housing and then extends forward. A mating lock is formed on the mating housing. The lock arm resiliently engages the mating lock when the two housings are connected properly to hold the housings in a connected state.
The housing is formed with protection walls that cover a rear end portion of the lock arm to prevent the lock arm from being unlocked inadvertently. Further, R-surfaces are formed on upper corners of the rear ends of the protection walls. The two housings are connected while these R-surfaces are pressed.
A finger that presses the above-described R-surfaces may slip to a free end of the lock arm and may inadvertently deform the lock arm. The lock arm hits a surface of the mating housing upon its returning movement when the two housings are connected properly and gives off a locking sound. However, the locking sound may not be sufficiently large if a finger inadvertently deforms the lock arm, thereby dulling lock feeling.
A large elevation difference exists between the upper extending ends of the protection walls of the above-described connector and the intermediate part of the lock arm. Thus, the finger needs to be inserted deeply into the unlocking space. However, the opening area of the unlocking space is specified according to the size of the housing and the opening area is not increased easily. As a result, the protection walls occasionally hinder the insertion of the finger tip before reaching the intermediate part of the lock arm. Accordingly, the locking arm of the above-described connector has been difficult to unlock and operational efficiency is poor.
The invention was developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to improve overall operational efficiency of the locking process.